Kazbegi
A fourteenth-century church on a ridge below a 5,054-metre peak, a gorge running north to the border, and a cable car over to the slopes of Gudauri.
- Arrival
- Tbilisi International · TBS
- To the town
- About 3 h 30 from the airport by road
- Private jets
- Tbilisi International, open around the clock
- Best time
- June to September
The city
Under Mkinvartsveri.
Stepantsminda, still known to most people as Kazbegi, lies some eleven kilometres short of Georgia’s northern border, on a route between Europe and Asia that is among the oldest in the Caucasus. A hoard of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE was dug up here. Above the town, Gergeti Trinity Church holds its ridge in front of Mkinvartsveri, the 5,054-metre summit Georgians also call Kazbegi Peak.
This is high country, cool at night in every month. The walking season runs from June to September, when afternoons reach sixteen to twenty-one degrees, and showers come and go. Winter skiing is at Gudauri, a short cable-car ride from the village of Kobi.
- Gergeti Trinity Church Built in the fourteenth century, once a hiding place for the national treasury, now reached by a paved road or on foot.
- Dariali Gorge The Tergi river cuts north through cliffs, with the Gveleti waterfall a short walk off the road.
- Mkinvartsveri The 5,054-metre peak above the town, whose glacier is a hard summer walk for the fit.
Arriving
Fly to Tbilisi, drive north.
Kazbegi has no airfield of its own. Aircraft land at Tbilisi International, about 113 km to the south in a straight line, and the road climbs from there through the mountains, around three and a half hours to Stepantsminda.
- Beirut 2 h 00
- Tel Aviv 2 h 15
- Doha 3 h 00
- Muscat 3 h 30
- Beijing 7 h 50 long-range jet
When to go
June to September.
A cold mountain climate with rain or snow in every month. May and June are the wettest; July and August are the warmest, at about twenty degrees, and September is the driest of the summer months. Winter highs stay well below freezing.
- -8° J 84
- -7° F 87
- -2° M 106
- 7° A 138
- 12° M 182
- 16° J 171
- 21° J 153
- 20° A 114
- 16° S 98
- 8° O 92
- 1° N 92
- -5° D 98
Where to stay
In the village, or up at Gudauri.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri One hundred and twenty-three rooms at 2,003 metres, with skis on from the door, an indoor pool and a spa.
- Gudauri Lodge A newer resort hotel beside the pistes, with ski-in, ski-out access to the lifts.
- Rooms Hotel Kazbegi Rooms each with its own balcony, and an indoor pool that looks out on the mountains; listed in the MICHELIN Guide.
- Intourist Kazbegi On a hillside in the town, facing Gergeti Trinity Church across the valley.
- Memoir Kazbegi Thirty-five rooms and a terrace with a wide view of the peaks.
- Best Western Gudauri A recent hotel some two kilometres from the centre of the resort, with its own spa.
Elsewhere in Georgia
More reasons to come.
Flying to Kazbegi?
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